The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-08-20
BY H. Rider Haggard.
Author of "She," "King Sole
Mons Mines" "Jess," "The
Witch's Head,' Etc.
CHAPTER Will
ALPHoNsE EXPLAINS.

to describe, it did not take long in reality
when had been forced to hit him in tho
wind with the result Of nearly getting myself
shot Fearing that the poor little man had
persisted in the battle began to hunt about
among the dead for his body; but not being
able either to SEQ or hear anything Of ii,
concluded that he must have survived and
walked down tho side of the kraal where we
had first taken our stand, calling him by
name. Now, some fifteen PAGES back from
the kraal wall stood very ancient tree of
the banyan species. So ancient was 1t that
all the inside had in the course Of ages de-
cayed away, leaving nothing but shell Of
bark.
"Alphonse!" called, as walked down tho
wail-"Alphonsel"
"Oui, monsieur" answered a voice. "Hero
anil"
looked round, but could see nobody.
"Where!' l cried.
"Here am |, monsieur, in the tree"
Hooked, and there, peering out Of hole
in the trunk of the banyan about five feet
from the ground, saw pale face and pair
of large mustaches, one clipped short and the
other as lamentably out Of curl as tho tail Of
a newly whipped pug. Then, for the first
time, realized what I had suspected before
namely, that Alphonse was an arrant
coward. l walked up to him. "Come out
of that hole" said.
SIS it finished, monsieuri" he asked, anx-
iously; "quite finished' All, the horrors
have undergone, and the prayers have
uttered!n
"Come out, you little skunk" I said, for
did not feel amiable; "it is all over"
Co tl,o,v kou
vailed. l emerge;" and he did.
Thoroughly disguised, I left Alphonse to
look after himself, which he did by following
me like shadow, and proceeded to join the
others by the large entrance. The first thing
that saw was Mackenzie, seated ON a stone,
with handkerchief twisted round his thigh,
from which he was bleeding freely, having
indeed received spear thrust that passed
right through it, and still holding in his hand
his favorite carving knife; now bent nearly
double, from which gathered that he had
been successful in his rough and tumble with
tho Elmoran.
"Ah, Quatermain!" he sung out in treni-
bling, excited voice, $50 we have conquered;
but it is sorry sight, sorry sight" and
then, breaking into broad Scotch. and glanc-
ing at the bent knire in his mana, III lasnes
me sair to haze bent my best carver on the
breastbane OF n savage" and he laughed
historically. Poor fellow what between his
wound aud the killing excitement he had
undergone, his nerves were much shaken,
and no wonder 1t is hard upon man OF
peace and kindly heart to be called upon to
Join in such grewsome business. But there,
fate puts US sometimes into very ironical
positions
At the kraal entrance the scene was a
strange one. The slaughter was over by now,
and the wounded men had been put out OF
their pain, for no quarter had been given
The bush closed entrance had been trampled
flat, md in place Of bushes it was filled with
the bodies OF dead men. Dead men, every
where dead men; they lay about in knots,
they were flung by ones and twos in every
position upon the open spaces, for oil the
world like the people OH the grass in one OF
the London parks on particularly hot Sun
day in August In front of this entrance, OH
a space which had been cleared of dead, and
of the shields and spears which were scattered
in all directions as they had fallen or been
thrown from the hands of their owners, stood
and lay the survivors Of the awful struggle,
and at their feet were four wounded men,
We had gone into the fight thirty strong,
and Of the thirty but fifteen remained alive,
and five of them Including Mr. Mackenzie)
were wounded, two mortally. OF those who
held the entrance, Curtis and the Zulu alone
remained. Good had lost five men killed,
had lost two killed and Mackenzie no less than
five out of the six with him. AS for the sur
vivors, they were, with the exception Of my
self, who had never come TO close quarters,
II. m
might have been painted that color-and
utterly exhausted, except Umslopogaas, who,
Us he stood on little mound above heap OF
dead, leaning as usual upon his AK, did not
seem particularly distressed, although the
skin over the hole in his head palpitated vio-
lently.
"Ah, Macumazahnp he said to me as
limped up, feeling very sick, al told thee that
it would be good fight, and it has. Never
have | seen a better, or one more bravery
fought. As for this iron Shirt surely it is
'tagati' "(bewitched); nothing could pierce it.
Had it not been for the garment l should
have been there" and he nodded toward the
great pile of dead men beneath him.
II give it thee; thou art gallant man.
said Sir Henry, briefly
"Koosln answered the Zulu, deeply pleased
both at the gift and the compliment. Thou,
too, Incubu, didst bear thyself as man, but
/ must give thee some lessons with the AK;
thou dost waste thy stregth."
Just then Mackenzie asked about Flossie,
and we were all greatly relieved when one Of
the men said he had seen her flying towards
the house with her nurse. Then bearing such
of the wounded as could be moved at the mo-
ment with us, we slowly made our way to-
wards the mission house, spent with toll and
bloodshed, but with the glorious sense Of vic
tory against Overwhelming odds glowing in
our hearts. We had saved the life of the
of